The article examines how zero tolerance policy is enacted in schools, and how the policy is supported by developments in technology, crime and prison policy, and social science theories of delinquency. The reseach is based on qualitative research and policy analysis, and has an interdisciplinary focus that would be of interest to educators, policymakers, and school administrators.

This commentary argues that we must understand and respond to the emotional issues posed for students by violent school environments so that all students can begin to prepare for the academic challenges envisioned by the No Child Left Behind Act.

Study examines the relationship between pedagogy and classroom control in traditional and progressivist teaching practices. Based on study of current Israeli school reform program, I argue that this relationship has been inadequately addressed, both in theory and in practice.

I’ve been researching school violence worldwide since the early 1980s and I’ve seen how our culture has responded to these tragedies. Unfortunately, some of the most important lessons that need to be learned are often lost in a quest to “understand the perpetrator”. If we hope to reduce future attacks, these are the main lessons we should learn as a culture.

Corporal punishment is abusive, ineffective, and violates international human rights law: it should be immediately abolished in the US. Corporal punishment violates children's right to freedom from cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, and contributes to a hostile school environment in which students struggle to learn and succeed. Corporal punishment is abusive for all children, but it has particularly severe effects for students with disabilities. Not only is it ineffective in teaching them appropriate behaviors, it can cause lasting mental and physical injury, and it can make students aggressive and unable to learn. For students with disabilities, corporal punishment can be followed directly by a decline in their medical conditions. These discriminatory, abusive, and ineffective practices should be abolished in US schools. There are better methods of providing effective school discipline, including positive behavioral support systems that enable educators to respond to children's individual needs.

Colleges and universities can probably do more to make their campuses safer in light of the tragedies at the University of Alabama and Virginia Tech University. Absent reckless conduct, however, we should not hold colleges and universities responsible for violent acts committed by disturbed faculty members or students.

Let’s not kid ourselves--we have child molesters in some of our schools. They are crafty; they are obsessed; and they have a primitive, almost animalistic instinct for choosing student victims who will passively submit to their aggressions. Educators need to cultivate an attitude of vigilance, a bit of forensic horse sense, and a healthy sense of skepticism when they observe an employee’s suspicious behavior with a student.

This commentary focuses on cyberbullying, which is a growing national concern. Special attention is given to the dilemma faced by school authorities in their efforts to comply with increasingly prescriptive antibullying mandates, which may generate constitutional challenges that disciplinary action abridges students' First Amendment rights.

In a bullying encounter, we ask why a bully bullies in the first place, but part of such an inquiry almost always includes a focus on the victim—that is, what is it about the victim that draws the ire of the bully? Researchers have spent great effort seeking to understand the motivations behind bullying, including why victims are targetable. Once we understand what causes a victim to be targeted, then, we believe, we can “fix up” the victim (to make him or her less targetable), and we can focus our work with the bully—helping him or her to be more tolerant of the “targetable” qualities held by the victim. But research also indicates that we may actually be asking the wrong question. Although bullying involves a victim and a bully, the literature also describes bullying as a social event, most often enacted within the purview of onlookers, accomplices, and bystanders. In this commentary, I argue that the victim is often incidental to the bullying encounter (i.e., the bully typically isn’t annoyed with, angry with, or threatened by the victim). Rather, the bully’s focus is on those watching the encounter—seeking to gain status with peers through the public domination of a classmate.

Although 13 Southern states permit school officials to paddle children in the public schools, research shows school boards are moving away from corporal punishment in Florida, North Carolina and Texas.

An interview with a young adolescent in jail for selling drugs, reveals the complex interactions among his background, the trauma of witnessing his father's murder, and how he came to "learn" just how unintelligent he was and how unsuccessful he was destined to become. He speaks about his country, culture, and family, and offers perspectives on justice, violence, and a failed educational history.

The purpose of this essay is to provide the knowledge and tools to become aware, then observe, and finally to engage, intellectually and morally, with civic and sacred sites and memorials as individuals and as communities, educationally and politically.

Students who attend school in the rural communities and small towns of five Southern states suffer the lion’s share of all corporal punishment that takes place in the nation’s public schools; and it is in these small towns and rural communities where corporal punishment must be vigorously attacked.

This commentary discusses the problem of bullying as it relates to Muslim students. The authors posit that teacher education programs can impact how Muslim students are treated in schools. In doing so, they provide practical avenues teacher educators can use to prepare pre-service teachers to address the problem.

Journal of Education PolicyThe Journal of Education Policy aims to discuss, analyze and debate policymaking, policy- implementation and policy impact at all levels of an in all facets of education. It offers a forum for theoretical debate, and historical and comparative studies, as well as policy analysis and evaluation reports. The journal also analyses key policy documents and reviews, relevant texts and monographs.

Educational ResearchAs the leading forum for informed thinking on issues of contemporary concern in education, Educational Research draws upon projects in universities, colleges of education and other institutions in Britain and around the world. The journal publishes research findings in all areas of education, from policy-making to classroom teaching.

Research Papers in EducationResearch Papers in Education has developed a reputation for publishing significant educational research findings of recent years. Up-to-date and authoritative, the journal has given researchers the opportunity to present full accounts of their work; its rationale, findings and conclusions.